ArtSlant - Openings & eventshttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/show
en-us40Guy Webster - Annenberg Space for Photography - August 25th, 2013 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM<p align="center"><strong>ROCK AND ROLL RETURNS </strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>to the</strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>ANNENBERG SPACE FOR PHOTOGRAPHY!</strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>Q&amp;A</strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>BOOK SIGNING</strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>WITH PHOTOGRAPHER GUY WEBSTER</strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>THIS SUNDAY, AUGUST 25&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>1 - 3PM</strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>FREE TO PUBLIC</strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>along with</strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>WHO SHOT ROCK &amp; ROLL: THE FILM</strong></p>
<p align="center">&nbsp;</p>
<p>Photographer GUY WEBSTER returns to the Annenberg Space for Photography this Sunday, August 25 from 1 - 3 pm for our &nbsp;new Meet &amp; Greet (M&amp;G) series.</p>
<p>The M&amp;G Series engages visitors to interact with our visiting photographers, photo editors and other guests at Skylight Studios, our new multi-media venue located directly across from the Space for Photography. The format for each Meet &amp; Greet event will vary by photographer, and no matter the format, attendees will have the opportunity to interact one-on-one with our featured guest.</p>
<p>Our premiere series of Meet &amp; Greet events include some of the legendary artists featured in Who Shot Rock &amp; Roll: The Film. &nbsp;</p>
<p>After the Meet &amp; Greet, stick around to watch <em>Who Shot Rock &amp; Roll: The Film</em>, screening throughout the day at Skylight Studios.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>MEET &amp; GREET UPCOMING EVENTS</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://guywebster.com" rel="nofollow"><strong>GUY WEBSTER</strong></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Sunday, August 25, 1 &ndash; 3 pm</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">One of the early innovators of rock and roll photography, Guy Webster has spanned the worlds of music, film and politics in his 50-year career. His hundreds of album covers have included the Rolling Stones, The Mamas &amp; the Papas, the Beach Boys, the Doors and Simon &amp; Garfunkel.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Photographer for the infamous Monterey Pop Concert, his images were used for the festival booklet and include concert photos of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who and many others.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">He has photographed film legends such as Rita Hayworth, Dean Martin and Bob Hope as well as countless luminaries and celebrities including Igor Stravinsky, Allen Ginsburg and Truman Capote for hundreds of worldwide magazines.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">His story of the iconic Mamas and the Papas debut album shoot is a highlight of the&nbsp;<em>Who Shot Rock &amp; Roll&nbsp;</em>film.&nbsp;<span style="text-align: center;">Five prints from that session will be available for sale.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: center;">https://twitter.com/AnnenbergSpace/status/370975710115938305/photo/1</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.normanseeff.com" rel="nofollow"><strong>NORMAN SEEFF</strong></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Saturday, September 7, 1-3 pm</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">From an emergency medical doctor in Soweto to art director in Los Angeles, Seeff&rsquo;s photography helped create a visual history in rock and roll with artists such as Frank Zappa, Ike &amp; Tina Turner, Joni Mitchell, the Rolling Stones and more. Norman will sign copies of his book, &ldquo;Sessions.&rdquo;</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;The Meet &amp; Greet series is free, and no reservations are required.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://annenbergspaceforphotography.org/skylight-studios" rel="nofollow">SKYLIGHT STUDIOS</a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Across the park from the</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://annenbergspaceforphotography.org" rel="nofollow">ANNENBERG SPACE FOR PHOTOGRAPHY</a></p>
<p align="center"><strong>Now Playing at Skylight Studios</strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>WHO SHOT ROCK &amp; ROLL: The Film</strong></p>
<p align="center"><strong>Continuous screenings Wednesdays &ndash; Sundays.</strong></p>Fri, 23 Aug 2013 23:25:00 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
Ben Hassett - Annenberg Space for Photography - August 29th, 2013 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Ben Hassett is an English photographer based in New York City. He trained as an art and landscape photographer but early in his career transitioned to fashion and beauty photography. After relocating to Paris from London, he began to fine-tune his technique, experimenting with shadow and light&mdash;color and form&mdash;to create the visceral, highly polished beauty images that are the hallmark of his work today.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Hassett is a regular contributor to <em>Vogue</em> magazines worldwide, and also contributes to <em>Vanity Fair</em>, <em>W</em> magazine, and <em>The New York Times</em>. Clients include Omega, Dior, L&rsquo;Oreal, Wella, Givenchy, Clarins and Rimmel. He directed a television commercial for Chanel in 2008.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">In his Iris Nights lecture, Hassett will discuss his creative impulses and process, and what it means to be a working commercial photographer today.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Iris Nights lecture series, is a public program offered free of charge, by online reservation on a first-come, first-served basis. The series brings to life the most current exhibit with presentations by exhibit featured photographers and other notable experts and guest artists, and takes place from 6:30-8pm Thursday evenings at the Annenberg Space for Photography Skylight Studios, located directly across the park from the Photography Space.</span></p>
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<div class="field-content"><span style="font-size: small;">Online registration for this event opens Wednesday, August 21 at 12pm PST and Thursday, August 22 at 9:30am PST</span></div>
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<div class="field-content" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://irisaug29.eventbrite.com"><img src="http://www.annenbergspaceforphotography.org/sites/all/themes/asp/images/iris-nights/eventinfo_on.jpg" alt="" /></a></span></div>
</div>Fri, 09 Aug 2013 08:48:26 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
- Laguna Art Museum - August 29th, 2013 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">For more than a decade Dale Schierholt has captured the artistic persona through a series of acclaimed documentaries. Working with his subjects one-on-one and without a crew, he takes a deeply personal look at the work of regional and nationally-renowned artists. Using clips from his films on artists such as Robert Indiana, Will Barnet, and Louise Nevelson, Schierholt offers an insightful and entertaining look inside the artists&rsquo; lives.</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> .</span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"> Presented in conjunction with the Laguna Beach Film Society.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">To reserve your spot for this lecture, please make a reservation online through our website, or contact Membership Manager Valerie Tate at 949.494.8971 x203.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Schierholt recently spent some time with John Mason discussing <em>Blue Wal</em>l (on display at Laguna Art Museum through October 13, 2013). Below is the short film that resulted from those conversations.</span></p>Fri, 09 Aug 2013 10:17:41 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
- Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego-La Jolla - August 29th, 2013 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM<div class="ap-whitebox-body description">
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Thursday nights are a Shore Thing at MCASD. </strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Join us for evening tours of <em>Approximately Infinite Universe</em>, art activities, film, music, food trucks, and a cash bar. This extended-hours event gives you the opportunity to mingle with old friends and new friends, picnic in the Sculpture Garden, and explore the galleries until late in the evening. On view throughout the summer will be science fiction-inspired&nbsp;<em><a href="http://www.artslant.com/la/events/show/276814-approximately-infinite-universe" target="_blank">Approximately Infinite Universe</a>.</em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">There is no additional cost to the program outside of standard admission rates. The third Thursday evening of every month will continue to be free of charge as part of the Museum&rsquo;s existing Free Third Thursday Evenings.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Shore Thing event sponsors Include La Jolla Light, KPBS, Stone Brewing Co., SIX ONE NINE Vodka, and Brick &amp; Bell Cafe.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Lead underwriting support for Shore Thing has been provided by Margaret Jackson and Neil Hadfield, with additional support generously received from Tracy A. and Andrew E. Nelson.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Please join us on&nbsp;one of the following dates:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>August 29: </strong>Live music from the Red Fox Tails.&nbsp;Enjoy bites from Tabe food truck.</p>
</div>Thu, 08 Aug 2013 10:31:52 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
Group Show - ROBERT BERMAN GALLERY B7 - August 29th, 2013 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM<p>3rd Annual Surf &amp; Skate silent art auction features custom surfboards and skate decks designed by professional surfers, skateboarders and artists.This year&rsquo;s theme is &ldquo;The Endless Summer,&rdquo; in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the sensational surf film created in 1964 by filmmaker Bruce Brown. The poster was designed by iconic graphic artist John Van Hamersveld, also the 2013 Venice Art Walk Signature Artist. Featuring a performance by The King&rsquo;s English.</p>Sun, 18 Aug 2013 16:32:32 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
Dan Monteavaro - Wallspace - August 29th, 2013 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM<p class="p1">Over 50 new works&nbsp;will be previewed at Wallspace &nbsp;from August 29th until September 5th before&nbsp;an exclusive show at Los Angeles Soho House from September 5th 2013.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="p2">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="p1">Incorporating images from mass media and comic book imagery, Dan Monteavaro plays with the familiarity of those images and the comfort that comes when looking at pixel-based art.</p>
<p class="p1">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="p1">The beauty in Monteavaro's work is more in the missing portions, wherein lies a communication between artist and material. In this way the works begin a dialogue with the viewer.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="p1">&nbsp;</p>
<p class="p1">"Growing up in New York during the 80's, the urban landscape influenced my work. The beauty of the run-down buildings stayed with me because, to me, they told a story. In my work, every missing part and crossed out word tells a story. Side by side, the works have a longer narrative or can stand alone."</p>
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<p class="p3">Born and raised in New York City, Dan Monteavaro has lived and worked in London, Italy, Korea and Los Angeles.&nbsp;Through all these transitions, modern media and the urban environment have exerted a powerful influence on his work.</p>Tue, 23 Jul 2013 01:09:51 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
- Machine Project - August 30th, 2013 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sasha Archibald will give an illustrated talk on make-up in early cinema (1910-1940) and cosmetic pioneer Maksymilian Faktorowicz. This is the first event for Quarterly, an occasional series of Machine Project events organized in conjunction with <em>Cabinet</em>, the quarterly arts and culture magazine based in Brooklyn, New York.</span></p>Tue, 27 Aug 2013 15:44:03 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
- Mingei International Museum - San Diego - August 30th, 2013 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Spend your lunch hour at the Museum with Dave Hampton, curator of <a href="http://www.artslant.com/la/events/show/284991-struck-by-modernism-c-carl-jennings-california-artist-blacksmith" target="_blank"><strong><em>Struck by Modernism &ndash; C. Carl Jennings, California Artist-Blacksmith</em></strong></a>, who will speak on Jennings&rsquo; work as a pioneering west coast artist-blacksmith and active participant in the California postwar studio craft scene. Learn how the exhibition came together, about Jennings&rsquo; &ldquo;re-discovery&rdquo; in the 1970s and his significant mark on the field.</span></p>Fri, 09 Aug 2013 11:02:37 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
Tom French - C.A.V.E. Gallery - August 31st, 2013 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM<div style="text-align: justify;" align="justify"><span style="font-size: small;">Born in 1982,&nbsp;<strong>Tom French</strong>&nbsp;grew up in Newcastle Upon Tyne, North East England. French began his studies at the Newcastle School of Art and Design and went on to graduate from the Sheffield Institute of Art and Design, achieving a first class BA Honors in 2005. He has since exhibited internationally, including solo exhibitions both in the UK and the US.</span><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;" align="justify"><span style="font-size: small;">Through his work, French focuses on the reflection of the conscious and subconscious mind. His oil paintings are a skillful combination of academic realism and surrealism, enveloped in carefree, loose and ostensibly unfinished abstract forms. This unique fusion of figurative realism and lively abstraction brings life and movement to his compositions, often suggesting an underlying emotional narrative and visual intrigue.</span><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" align="justify"><span style="font-size: small;">Whereas French's previous double image paintings featuring skulls, centered on life and death concepts to explore relationships between the conscious and subconscious - this new body of work, which forms part of his '<strong>Duality'</strong>&nbsp;series, depicts human faces in place of the skulls, exhibiting a more expressive approach. This series focuses on the positive and creative aspects of the subconscious mind, with references of the philosophical dualism theory. French's new work has beautifully developed in a powerful way - displaying stronger, livelier elements of abstraction, whilst retaining his recognizable figurative approach and suggested narratives.</span></p>Sat, 22 Feb 2014 15:39:13 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
Hellbent - C.A.V.E. Gallery - August 31st, 2013 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: small;">"</span><strong style="font-size: small;">No Wave</strong><span style="font-size: small;">" is the newest collection from Brooklyn based artist&nbsp;</span><strong style="font-size: small;">Hellbent</strong><span style="font-size: small;">, for his second feature show at C.A.V.E. Gallery. The work is a continuation of his series "Mix Tape" which was originally started in Los Angeles as a mural. &nbsp;</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" align="justify"><span style="font-size: small;">This body of work evolved from the artist making collage's with the tape he used to mask portions of paintings when spray painting. The over-spray on the tape was then reconfigured into different arrangements and then used as sketch for pieces to be done in paint. These sketches are then encased in liquid glass and are called "Demos", which are displayed along with actual works in which they inspired. The painted pieces are then named after whatever song happened to be playing as the artist created them.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" align="justify"><span style="font-size: small;">In his latest body of work "No Wave", Hellbent departs from his typical subject matter and reinterprets his work by juxtaposing patterns and colors in such a way that creates an eye catching effect that plays with one's perception. The artist has incorporated shadows to accentuate depth, and also begins to use white in the color field to "ground" to these paintings.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" align="justify"><span style="font-size: small;">Similar to the No Wave music of late 70's and early 80's which emphasized musical texture over melody - Hellbent too is emphasizing texture and color over subject. Hellbent's work is influenced by the earliest ventures into abstraction, by Kandinsky and other artists from the early 20th century, which were reactions to the music of the day. Much like Richard Dieberkorn's "Ocean Park" series, Hellbent sees these newest pieces as an evolution of a larger body of work in abstraction.</span></p>Sat, 22 Feb 2014 15:39:17 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
Mark Leckey - Hammer Museum - August 31st, 2013 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Through a multi-disciplinary practice that encompasses sculpture, sound, film, and performance, British artist Mark Leckey explores the potential of the human imagination to appropriate and to animate a concept, an object, or an environment. Drawing on his personal experiences as a London-based artist, who spent his formative years in the north of England, Leckey returns frequently to ideas of personal history, desire and transformation in his work. This exhibition marks the first solo U.S. museum presentation for the artist.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>On Pleasure Bent</em> is a new body of work in which Leckey attempts to form a kaleidoscopic memoir, assembling his past from the imagery that he believes conditioned him. The exhibition will include all new works, several being exhibited publicly for the first time. Objects will include LED screens featuring looped animations, animated screens made up of highly-magnified computer screens silk screened with images, as well as cinema lobby style 'standees' and a trailer for a new video.&nbsp; </span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Organized by Ali Subotnick, curator, with Emily Gonzalez, curatorial assistant.</span></p>
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<h4 class="green" style="text-align: justify;">ESSAY</h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">By Alex Kitnick <br /> <br /> Mark Leckey speculates on objects and on the future. He is interested in all types of things&mdash;from prosthetic hands to Felix the Cat&mdash;and what these things do to us as people. He is intrigued by their physical characteristics&mdash;their veneer and heft, their weight and feel&mdash;and by their place in larger systems of circulation and distribution. He gravitates toward hard objects but only once they have been translated into something else, transformed into a JPEG and retrofitted with a new virtual life. Leckey has said, &ldquo;sculpture is what I do,&rdquo; but sculpture in his hands is no longer a rigid, obdurate thing but rather something elusive and shape-shifting, malleable and mysterious. So too are the objects from which the artist takes inspiration.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">&nbsp;</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><br /> For his exhibition at the Hammer, <em>On Pleasure Bent</em>, Leckey has brought together these concerns in a rather personal form. Taking its title from an LP by the British comedian Kenneth Williams, the exhibition, along with the eponymous film that anchors it, has been described by Leckey as a memoir constructed from &ldquo;found memories&rdquo;; it is an attempt to make sense of his own desires and pleasures and the way they imbricate with technology. Beginning with his birth and concluding with his recent induction into fatherhood, Leckey&rsquo;s film is an attempt to figure himself out. The self, for Leckey, does not exist in solitude, however; like Marshall McLuhan, he understands media as &ldquo;extensions of man&rdquo;&mdash;and man as an extension of media (1). Each one of us is wired, networked, and connected to a multiplicity of people and things. Pleasure here is equally promiscuous, the result perhaps of a culture bent on enjoyment. Indeed, pleasure is closely tied to popular culture in Leckey&rsquo;s world. The references in his film rely heavily on old television shows and consumer advertising. <br /> <br /> It is not simply the iconography of these &ldquo;found memories&rdquo; that intrigues Leckey, however, but the technology&mdash;from satellites to televisions&mdash;by which they were conveyed to him. To analyze such things, <em>On Pleasure Bent </em>submits footage to a number of manipulations and techniques, alternately refilming projected imagery and breaking down digital code. In this regard, <em>On Pleasure Bent</em> functions something like a sequel to Leckey&rsquo;s breakthrough video <em>Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore</em> (1999), which transformed video footage of 1970s northern soul dance parties into an image of what can only be called the subcultural sublime. Where much of his recent work has focused on current technology and its attendant fetishes&mdash;Samsung refrigerators and non-Newtonian fluids have been particularly popular&mdash;<em>On Pleasure Bent</em> circles back to the interests that shaped the beginning of Leckey&rsquo;s career and thus synthesizes a number of concerns that have spanned the artist&rsquo;s practice. If one is looking for differences between the two projects, however, one will find those as well. <em>On Pleasure Bent </em>suggests that there are no longer distinct subcultures embedded beneath a dominant culture but rather that a swarm of assorted groups and interests now constitutes our cultural life. <br /> <br /> Instead of offering <em>On Pleasure Bent</em> in its entirety at the Hammer, Leckey is presenting Los Angeles audiences with a snippet of the forthcoming film&mdash;perhaps something like a trailer&mdash;to pique our interest. While this is partially a pragmatic decision, what seems more important is the structural tension that such withholding produces. Yes, Los Angeles is a city accustomed to media hype, but more and more our contemporary moment at large is characterized by precisely this condition of expectation. Today there is always something to come; pleasure is measured in content waiting to load. Rather than simply being mimetic of our current moment, however, Leckey&rsquo;s gesture may also contain something utopian. &ldquo;Art,&rdquo; the artist Jack Goldstein once wrote, &ldquo;should be a trailer for the future,&rdquo; which suggests that art might also prepare us for a different world to come (2).<br /> <br /> In addition to the video, Leckey has populated the exhibition with other materials related to his <em>Pleasure</em> project. A cardboard standee, a notably lo-fi aspect of the film industry, is featured in the exhibition to promote <em>On Pleasure Bent</em>. Traditionally emblazoned with superheroes and appearing in close proximity to popcorn machines, these humble PR tools are now waning with the dwindling fortunes of cinemas in general. (Indeed, museums today do a better job than movie theaters of congregating people; at least they insist on physical presence, while movies demand privacy, beaming into our homes.) The 2-D standee is not simply an artifact from the recent past, however; it plays with the tensions between flatness and embodiment and between presence and absence, which characterize Leckey&rsquo;s work at large. In his 2008 performance-video <em>Cinema-in-the-Round</em>, for example, Leckey lectured about a variety of visual phenomena&mdash;from Philip Guston&rsquo;s paintings to <em>The Simpsons</em>, from James Cameron&rsquo;s <em>Titanic</em> to Hollis Frampton&rsquo;s <em>Lemon</em>, from Egyptian feline sculptures to Felix the Cat&mdash;that struck him as densely material and tangible despite being flat, immaterial images. One notices, too, the old union of high and low in this list. In Leckey&rsquo;s logic, however, the commingling of these two traditionally opposed terms does not flatten out into something bland and neutral but rather creates a hybrid form that pops out with new life. <br /> <br /> Leckey is interested not only in objects&rsquo; shadows and screen presences, however, but in their reflections too. In <em>Pearl Vision</em> (2012), a video shot during his recent residency at the Hammer, another interpenetration of object and subject takes place. The short three-minute video&mdash;Leckey calls it &ldquo;a kind of self-portrait&rdquo;&mdash;focuses on a faceless performer sitting with a snare drum fit snugly between his alternately red-panted and naked legs. The drummer is no master of the instrument&mdash;he lazily taps along to the song purring through his Sony headphones&mdash;and yet the drum produces a variety of effects in addition to sound. It gives off beautiful chrome reflections; its mechanical parts open and close; at one point it becomes its own animated avatar. Indeed the brand of the drum, <em>Pearl Vision</em>, points to a synesthetic confusion of the senses; it is a musical instrument, but it promotes vision and a pearlescent one at that. The warped crotch shots that form the video&rsquo;s leitmotif, however, suggest that this object and its attendant effects, as with so many of the objects that surround us today, ultimately speak to us libidinally, in a language of sensation that overwhelms any one particular sense. The drum&rsquo;s myriad effects are meant to turn us on. Such stimulation, however, often takes place in a solitary space&mdash;the drummer sits alone, slowly keeping the beat. <br /> <br /> For Leckey then, things are clearly much more than dense matter. Everywhere in his work surprisingly animate objects exert pressure on the senses. &ldquo;Things do not exist without being full of people,&rdquo; the social theorist Bruno Latour has written, &ldquo;and the more modern and complicated they are, the more people swarm through them.&rdquo;(3) Leckey too is interested in the most modern of things, which is to say that he is interested not only in objects but also in the systems through which they are put, with the Internet being only the most obvious one. If <em>reification</em> is the word that describes the process in which social relationships become thing-like, what, we might ask, is the word for when things become social? For this is the phenomenon that Leckey sets out to describe in his work. In the world that we inhabit, and that he charts, the division between subject and object, and person and thing, has become blurred beyond our wildest dreams. <br /> <br /> In its emphasis on the affective bodily charge that technology creates, Leckey&rsquo;s work marks a paradigm shift in the history of recent art. In contrast to much postmodern art of the 1980s&mdash;its appropriated &ldquo;pictures&rdquo; preoccupied with loss, absence, and silence&mdash;Leckey&rsquo;s work displays an engorging of images and an animation of objects. Things here have not been replenished with meaning, information, or symbolic value, however, as much as they have been pumped up with sensation. Leckey sees a new materialism ahead of us. Looming in the background is the question of what we want to do with these new technologies and materials, which appear more and more to be here to stay. If Leckey&rsquo;s art is a trailer for the future, we can only imagine&mdash;with a mixture of trepidation and wonder&mdash;about the film that is to come.<br /> <br /> <em>Alex Kitnick is an art historian and critic whose writing has appeared in publications including Artforum, October, and Texte zur Kunst. He currently teaches at Bard College. </em><br /> <br /> Notes<br /> 1. See Marshall McLuhan, <em>Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man</em> (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964).<br /> 2. Jack Goldstein, in <em>Documenta 7</em>, vol. 2 (Kassel, Germany: Dierichs, 1982), 134.<br /> 3. Bruno Latour, &ldquo;The Berlin Key or How to Do Words with Things,&rdquo; in <em>Matter, Materiality, and Modern Culture</em>, ed. P. M. Graves-Brown (London: Routledge, 1991), 10.</p>
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<h5 class="green" style="text-align: justify;">Biography</h5>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Mark Leckey was born in Birkenhead, England, in 1964 and lives and works in London. He received his BA from Newcastle Polytechnic. Leckey has exhibited his videos, multimedia installations, sculptures, and collages widely and has had solo shows at the Banff Centre, Alberta, Canada (2012); the Serpentine Gallery, London (2011); Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes, England (2010); K&ouml;lnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (2009); Le Consortium, Dijon, France (2007); Portikus, Frankfurt (2005); and Migros Museum, Zurich (2003). His work has been included in numerous important international exhibitions, including <em>Il Palazzo Enciclopedico / The Encyclopedic Palace</em>, Venice Biennale (2013); <em>Ghosts in the Machine</em>, New Museum, New York (2012); <em>10,000 Lives</em>, Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea (2010); <em>Moving Images: Artists &amp; Video/Film</em>, Museum Ludwig, Cologne (2010); <em>Playing Homage</em>, Vancouver Contemporary Art Gallery; <em>Sympathy for the Devil</em>, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2007); Istanbul Biennial (2005); and Manifesta 5, European Biennial of Contemporary Art, San Sebasti&aacute;n, Spain (2004). Leckey has presented his lecture/performances at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and he participated in Performa 11 (2011) in New York. Leckey recently organized the traveling exhibition <em>The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things</em> for the Hayward Gallery in London, and he will participate in the 2013 Carnegie International at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh. In 2008 Leckey received the Turner Prize and the Central Art Award, K&ouml;lnischer Kunstverein. He is currently reader in fine art at Goldsmiths, London, and from 2005 to 2009 he was professor of film studies at the St&auml;delschule in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. His work is in the collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum Het Domein Sittard, the Netherlands; Tate Gallery, London; Trussardi Foundation, Milan; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.</p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p>Fri, 09 Aug 2013 15:51:21 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
Joe Meiser - Torrance Art Museum - August 31st, 2013 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Joe Meiser works in a combination of sculpture, installation and performance art.&nbsp; The gallery is filled with 1000 pounds of artwork for this exhibition.&nbsp; Joe&rsquo;s current body of work explores the problem of mortality as experienced by the contemporary human.</span></p>
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<p><em>&nbsp;</em>Gallery 2</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">&nbsp;</span></p>Fri, 06 Sep 2013 17:51:32 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
Heath Franco, Martine Corompt, Philip Brophy, Ian Haig, Soda Jerk, Diego Ramirez, Emile Zile - Torrance Art Museum - August 31st, 2013 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Australian Video, curated by Ian Haig. The works in UNCO all manifest this &ldquo;unco&rdquo; state of being, of odd pairings and perverse couplings.</span></p>Thu, 27 Jun 2013 11:11:02 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
Group Show - Torrance Art Museum - August 31st, 2013 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM<p>Torrance, Calif., August 16, 2013&ndash; The <strong>Torrance Art Museum at the Joslyn Center (TAM)</strong> invites the public to attend an opening reception for new exhibitions on <strong>Saturday, August 31<sup>st</sup> from 6 &ndash; 9 pm</strong>. The opening reception is free to the public and no RSVP is necessary. The TAM is located at 3320 Civic Center Drive in Torrance. The following exhibitions will be <strong>on view from Tuesday, September 3<sup>rd</sup> - Saturday, October 12<sup>th</sup>, 2013. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11am to 5pm.</strong><br /><br /></p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Main Gallery:</span></p>
<p><strong><em>TRUE BELIEVERS</em></strong></p>
<p><strong><em>True Believers</em></strong> is an exhibition featuring a selection of artists from LA and beyond whose work finds various connections and references to the tropes and conventions of science-fiction, horror films and comic books. Paralleling those inspirations with some of the recent strains of contemporary art from Los Angeles, True Believers contextualizes the artists' work with products from the vast popular culture landscape and its related sub-cultures.&nbsp; The exhibition seeks an overlap in inspiration and imagination between what one may find at an art fair and what one may find at Comicon.&nbsp; True Believers is curated by artist-curator Adam D. Miller, TAM director and head curator Max Presneill, and TAM assistant curator Jason Ramos.</p>
<p>&nbsp;Featuring works by: Justin Bower, The Clayton Brothers, Monica Cook, The Date Farmers, David French, Charles Irvin, Patrick Jackson, Mike Kuchar, Joel Kyack, Candice Lin, Chad Person, Jon Pylypchuk, Colin Roberts, Robert Williams, Eric Yahnker, Creature props and effects from Amalgamated Dynamics Inc.</p>
<p><em>&nbsp;</em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Gallery 2:</span></p>
<p><strong><em>Joe Meiser</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>&nbsp;</strong>Joe Meiser works in a combination of sculpture, installation and performance art.&nbsp; The gallery is filled with 1000 pounds of artwork for this exhibition.&nbsp; Joe&rsquo;s current body of work explores the problem of mortality as experienced by the contemporary human.</p>
<p><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The Dark Room Video Gallery Presents:</span></p>
<p><strong><em>UNCO </em></strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;Australian Video, curated by Ian Haig.&nbsp; The works in UNCO all manifest this &ldquo;unco&rdquo; state of being, of odd pairings and perverse couplings.</p>
<p>&nbsp;Featuring works by: Philip Brophy, Martine Corompt, Heath Franco, Ian Haig, Soda Jerk, Diego Ramirez and Emile Zile</p>
<p>&nbsp;The Torrance Art Museum is the premiere visual art space to view contemporary art in the South Bay. It is a program of the City of Torrance Cultural Services Division of the Community Services Department. The Cultural Services Division is responsible for City sponsored arts and culture initiatives held at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center and throughout the City.</p>
<p>Additional information about special events and upcoming arts programming at the Torrance Art Museum can be requested by email at torranceartmuseum@torranceCA.gov or by calling 310-618-3846.</p>Tue, 20 Aug 2013 20:52:59 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
- Getty Center Los Angeles - September 3rd, 2013 10:00 AM - 5:30 PM<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><em>The exhibition is presented in two parts. The pages of the manuscripts will be turned to reveal further treasures on December 3, 2013.</em> <br /> <br />This exhibition of illuminated manuscripts from the permanent collection reveals the widespread appeal and influence of saints in art and society during the Middle Ages. Medieval artists pictured them in images of incredible horror and great beauty, designed to offer inspiration and comfort to the faithful.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;">Venerated for their willingness to suffer torture and death, their ability to perform miracles, and their privileged place in heaven, saints were integral to medieval Christianity. Graced with divine favor, they followed Christ's model of behavior and goodness, revealing the divine in the earthly realm.</span></p>Fri, 30 Aug 2013 18:36:55 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list
Steve McCurry - Peter Fetterman Gallery - September 3rd, 2013 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM<p style="text-align: justify;" align="justify">&nbsp;</p>
<p align="justify"><span style="font-size: small;">Peter Fetterman Gallery is proud to present "UNTOLD" a selection of Steve McCurry's most iconic images and the release of "Untold, The Stories Behind the Photographs."</span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">&nbsp;</span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-size: small;">This most recent collaboration between McCurry and Phaidon is a complete documentary record of 14 of his most powerful and beautiful stories.&nbsp;Described by McCurry as a tribute "to the places I've been, the thing's I've seen and the people I've known."&nbsp;An intimate and intricate archive, each chapter is complimented with personal records, handwritten notes, never-before-seen images, fascinating accounts and exciting narrative.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">&nbsp;</span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-size: small;">On view in the gallery's Project Room from&nbsp;August 24th to November 30th, the exhibition will run concurrently with Sebasti&atilde;o Salgado's "Genesis" thus bringing together two of the greatest living masters of photojournalism.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">Join us on&nbsp;Tuesday September 3rd from 6 - 8pm&nbsp;for a unique opportunity to meet one of photography's greatest legends in celebration of his latest book.</span></p>
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<p align="justify"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">Previous titles, including McCurry's Limited Edition "Iconic Images" (with signed "Dal Lake" print) will also be available for purchase.</span></p>
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<p align="center">RSVP</p>
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<p align="center">&nbsp;<a href="mailto:info@peterfetterman.com" shape="rect" target="_blank">info@peterfetterman.com</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" align="justify">&nbsp;</p>Thu, 22 Aug 2013 15:18:01 +0000http://www.artslant.com/la/Events/listhttp://www.artslant.com/la/Events/list